This is a book on China’s forgotten leprosy colonies - it's a moving document(ation) in an outstanding production, very intimate, from pictures to format - not the usual stuff we get to see all the time.

"Some of you may know that Leprosy is one of the oldest diseases described in the history of mankind. The disease was written even in the Old Testament. In China, there was a part written in the Analects of Confucius. 

To tell the story of people in the pictures as well as the long history of this disease, I wanted to make this book look like Chinese Paleography. So I made some research on it and I had a chance to visit a Paleography store in Taiwan where I could get to see real Chinese Paleography. 

To make the book with the atmosphere of Chinese Paleography, it was necessary to choose the right materials. I first looked for Chinese paper if there is any, but I decided to use traditional Japanese paper which is very high-quality and still can see the texture of the fiber which I believe is the best to realize the ancient look. This is because the old Japanese books are also quite similar in design as Chinese books. 

Though this is not the best way to show the pictures, I decided to bind with an ancient technic. Since all copies are bound by hand, and no machine is involved in this book making process (except the printing of the images), it was impossible to make a lot of copies. The title calligraphy was drawn by Misato Ichino, a Japanese calligrapher. I showed her the images and explained the story carefully so that she could imagine the best way to draw the title calligraphy." (Kosuke Okahara)

More details on Kosuke Okahara's site.
Photobookcorner seems to get copies of the now sold out book.

Edition of 100 copies, numbered and signed. Photographs and design by Kosuke Okahara, title calligraphy & Map by Misato Ichino, text by Takeshi Nishio (Japanese/English).

Pages: 40
Place: Tokyo
Year: 2013
Publisher: BACKYARD Project
Size: 15 x 21 cm (approx.)

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